


Roselia Obtains a Mascot

by IndulgentGayWriter



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Humor, Not To Be Taken Too Seriously, Sayo Suffers, Sayo's POV, Some sexual innuendo, Sorry Sayo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndulgentGayWriter/pseuds/IndulgentGayWriter
Summary: Yukina shows up to a Roselia rehearsal with a new pet. Shenanigans (and romance?) ensue.
Relationships: Hikawa Sayo/Minato Yukina
Comments: 16
Kudos: 63





	1. The Mascot Arrives

**Author's Note:**

> This is more a general Roselia fic than a romance, but there will be some romance in it! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Yukina was late. That was the first troubling sign. Sayo had been playing for over thirty minutes by herself, when normally Yukina joined her pre-rehearsal extra practice every weekend. But today, every member of the band _except_ for Yukina was here, warming up, when the door cracked slowly open.

“Minato-san has arrived,” said Sayo, who had been watching the door like a hawk. A hint of disapproval flavored her words.

There was a clattering sound from the drum set area and slight feedback from the amps as the ambient band noises came to an abrupt halt. Three heads swiveled to the doorway where Yukina hovered, uncharacteristically hesitant. 

She was avoiding eye contact, which was the second troubling sign. Sayo’s mind raced through possibilities, each more worrying than the last. 

_Is she sick? Is she dying? Did she fail all of her tests? Are her parents forcing her to move? Is she planning on breaking up the band?_ Sayo shook her head slightly to snap herself out of it. Yukina had learned her lesson (or lessons), and Sayo trusted her. She was probably just feeling under the weather.

Sayo gave her a quick once-over as Lisa rushed to her side. She certainly didn’t look sick, just slightly tired. Nothing out of the norm. Which was mildly concerning, but Yukina insisted that she was _just fine_ whenever Sayo offered to relieve some of her burden. Yukina had brought her school bag, though -- slightly unusual -- and it was full of something much bigger, and lumpier, than just her sheet music.

_Wait, did it just move-_

Before Sayo could finish the thought, Yukina cleared her throat softly. 

“As you may recall, there are several cats that live in the alley nearby.” She paused, and Sayo blinked in surprise. The silence stretched, and an audible squeak emerged from the bag in Yukina’s hands. She shifted it further behind her legs.

“Yukinaaaa, please tell me you didn’t actually kidnap a cat and bring it to rehearsal,” Lisa said, putting her hands on her hips.

Ako stepped forward, eyes shining, as Sayo felt herself physically recoil in horror at the very idea.

“Is it a black cat? That would be so cool! It can be our, uh, representative of darkness! Right Rin-Rin?”

“Absolutely not,” Sayo cut off whatever Rinko had been about to say, not wanting this absurdity to escalate any further. “Roselia is not the type of band to have a,” she hesitated, brows furrowing at the very thought, “ _mascot_. We are a professional band, not a circus.” 

“Awwwww. Are you su-” 

“ _And besides_ ,” Sayo ground out. “Cats have claws and can cause untold damage to the very expensive equipment here that we, I might remind you, do not actually own.”

“I mean,” Lisa said, glancing at her bass and smirking a little. 

“That we do not own, for the most part,” Sayo corrected, rolling her eyes. “Minato-san, while I understand that you like cats a great deal, you simply cannot bring them to rehearsal. You understand, correct?” 

“It’s not a cat.” 

Silence. 

Lisa, who had been tentatively reaching out to grab the strap of the bag, withdrew her hand and took a couple steps back.

“Also, I think that I like cats a normal amount,” Yukina continued, pouting slightly.

“Um, going back to your earlier statement,” Lisa said, smiling a little too widely, “If it’s not a cat, then what is it, exactly?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. A couple of weeks ago, after rehearsal, I was petting a couple of the alley cats when they led me to the park nearby.”

“They led you…? How exactly does that work?” Sayo asked, unable to help herself.

“Not really important right now, don’t you think Sayo?” Lisa said, voice strained, before Yukina could be further diverted. “Yukina, just tell us what’s in the bag.”

“As I was saying, they led me to the park. More specifically, to what I thought at the time was a large black rock.” Yukina continued. Lisa sighed, accepting defeat. “I was taken aback by their generosity, and decided to bring it home with me. This was admittedly difficult, as it was quite heavy, but I persevered.” 

‘ _Their generosity?’_ Ako mouthed at Sayo, looking lost. Sayo waved at her to leave the question unvoiced. _Imai-san is right,_ she thought. _The sooner she gets through the story, the sooner I stop obsessing over what might be in the bag. She couldn’t possibly think it was a good idea to grab a skunk, right?_

“I kept the object on my desk, where it served as a source of inspiration for my compositions.” Yukina paused again, looking down and shuffling a little on her feet. The air was tense with anticipation.

“But then, two days ago, it began to move. I was worried that it would knock things over on my desk, so I relocated it to my bed. It stopped moving, so I went to eat dinner with my parents. When I came back up, the rock had a crack in it, and a creature was emerging.”

“This is…insane,” Sayo sputtered.

“This is _insane_!” Ako said simultaneously, eyes seeming to glow as her whole body leaned forward, tethered to reality only by Rinko’s hand holding onto her wrist. “What matter of dark creature was it? Did you swear an eternal bond, or engage in some kind of foul...foul…” 

Ako tugged at the hand on her wrist, searching. 

“C-contract? But Ako-chan, I think you should be careful…” Rinko said. “And Yukina-san, what was it exactly? A bird of some kind...?”

Sayo was now pacing in tight circles, muttering under her breath about whether nonsense was contagious, and Lisa, mouth slightly open, seemed to have absolutely nothing to say for once in her life.

“I wasn’t sure at first. It didn’t look like a bird. It had golden eyes and was rather damp. But to see it push against the crack, struggling desperately to get out and achieve freedom, to, as it were, blaze a path towards its dreams; it was....inspirational.” Yukina’s eyes grew distant, as if she was seeing past her bandmates to something far beyond them, something eternal. “I looked into its eyes and felt a kindred spirit.”

Sayo stopped pacing and pivoted abruptly toward their leader. 

“Pardon my language, but what the actual fuck, Minato-san? And why did you not tell anyone that some sort of, apparently, non-bird animal...hatched...in your bedroom? What even hatches that isn’t a bird? And from a black egg?? Do you have an...an... _alligator_ or something in your bag???”

Yukina looked mildly affronted, and Sayo resented how _she_ was being made to feel like the crazy one. 

“Kaze is not an alligator,” Yukina said, some of her typical, strangely comforting, haughtiness restored to her voice. “Also, I did attempt to request help. But Lisa said this was, and I quote, ‘something I needed to take care of myself.’” 

“What? I definitely do not remember saying that.” Lisa said.

 _At least Imai-san seems to have recovered her voice._ Sayo thought. Someone needed to protest the absurdity with her. _She named the thing?_

“You definitely did,” Yukina said. She set the bag down with unusual gentleness and pulled out her phone. “Look at the proof of your negligence.” 

The other four reluctantly gathered around the phone, keeping Yukina’s body between themselves and the now twitching bag. Yukina had opened her private chat with Lisa, and Sayo squinted at the small characters, dated from two days ago.

_Yukina: Lisa, something has happened_

_Lisa <3: what’s up Yukina _

_Lisa <3: kinda unusual for you to text me this late lol _

_Yukina: There has been an incident, and I’m not sure what to do_

_Lisa <3: should I be worried? _

_Lisa <3: just start from the beginning? _

_Yukina: I suppose first I’ll need to clean up, then decide what I should do_

_Lisa <3: omg did you try cooking by yourself again??? Yukina just let me know next time ill come over and make you something _

Sayo mentally rolled her eyes at the coddling as Yukina scrolled down and Lisa seemed to start choking on air.

_Yukina: No, nothing like that. I was in my room_

_Yukina: There was an incident and now my bedsheets are stained with a liquid. How do I clean them?_

_Lisa <3: ….what kind of liquid exactly _

_Yukina: I’m not sure_

_Lisa <3: sorry but im gonna need more than that _

_Yukina: It’s clear and kind of slippery. And there’s a little blood I think? Sort of mixed in. I’ll explain more when you get here_

_Lisa <3: omg yukina _

_Yukina: There isn’t much of an odor at least_

_Lisa <3: just put some detergent on the stains and wash the sheets right away _

_Lisa <3: cold water _

_Lisa <3: and never talk to me about this again _

_Lisa <3: this is something your going to need to take care of yourself. Ill send you some links if your really that desparate _

_Lisa <3: now excuse me, im scarred forever _

_Yukina: But I still need to figure out what to do?_

_Lisa <3: BYE YUKINA _

“See?” Yukina said, confident in her righteous grievance. “I was abandoned. You never even sent me the links.” 

“Yes, why didn’t you go over and assist, Imai-san?” Sayo asked. 

“WHY DO YOU THINK,” Lisa said, tears at the corners of her eyes as she recovered from her minor coughing fit. Sayo patted her back. “I didn’t think she was talking about an egg hatching!”

“Then what did you think she was talking about?” 

Lisa stared at her, or glared more accurately, as if she believed Sayo should be able to magically understand her thought process. Sayo looked around for help, seeing two equally confused expressions and Rinko, who had hidden her face behind her hands, a bright red ear sticking out from the curtain of her hair. _Why is she so embarrassed?_ Something clicked in her head.

_Oh. OH._

“I didn't know you had such a prurient mind, Imai-san.” Sayo said stiffly, wishing for death as her traitorous brain decided to visualize Yukina, laying on her bed, eyes closed as she slowly-

“What does prurient mean, Rin-Rin?”

“That’s not important now.” Sayo cleared her throat officiously, desperately trying to empty her mind. “Getting back on topic, Minato-san, can you please stop stalling and just show us the creature.” _Please let it be a turtle, an ugly, slimy, turtle_.

“His name is Kaze.”

“Fine. Show us ‘Kaze-san’ then. Now.”

Behind Yukina, forgotten about despite being the subject of the conversation, the bag had flopped over, and Kaze was pushing hard against the flap. Yukina turned toward the bag, flicking her hair, just as Kaze burst out of confinement with an excited _cheep_. 

There, in front of Sayo’s disbelieving eyes, was a tiny, four-legged, winged reptile with two horns emerging from its head. It had violet scales and golden eyes. A forked tongue flickered out, and it took an unsteady step forward. 

Time seemed to slow as Sayo pointed at it, remembered that pointing was rude, and brought her hand back down. She couldn’t think, refused to believe, and felt the sudden onset of vertigo. 

Ako was apparently much quicker to adapt.

“Oh my god, Yukina-san, you have a dragon! That’s so coooool!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: Here there be Dragons
> 
> This is officially my first fic! I've been reading fic on and off for many years, but have never written my own. This hasn't been beta read, and any comments are welcome, as well as any constructive criticism!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayo suffers, Yukina is stubborn, but hopefully everyone will come around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow this chapter just kept growing in length, until I decided it was time to stop fiddling with it and just publish. Enjoy!

The rest of Roselia had gathered in a loose semi-circle around Yukina, who had picked Kaze up and was holding him around his belly, his front half draped over her folded arms. The little dragon, for that was indeed what the creature resembled, leaned forward as much as he could, golden eyes glowing with curiosity. His violet head darted back and forth to look at all the new people surrounding him, and his four paws wriggled as he squirmed in Yukina’s hold. 

Sayo’s mind was curiously blank, and she felt as if she was floating upward while still being aware that her feet were on the ground. _Is this what people call an ‘out of body experience’?_ She had always thought those were exaggerated or made up entirely. Apparently not.

“To finish my story, Kaze was eventually able to break free of his prison and emerge into the light. I followed Lisa’s cleaning directions, then had to decide what to do with him. But soon I realized, there was no choice at all,” Yukina intoned.

There was a dramatic pause. As Sayo waited it out, she reflected on how often Yukina engaged in such theatrics. It was surprisingly common for someone infamous for their emotionless affect.

“Kaze had shown me his determination, his inner fire,” Yukina continued. Sayo desperately hoped that the last part was metaphorical. “We had already forged an unbreakable bond, and I understood that Lisa was correct. Kaze was someone that I had to take care of, for no one else in the world could truly understand him as I do. I was his family, now, and entrusted with raising him so that he could fulfil all of his dreams.” 

Another, shorter pause. Yukina looked almost abashed as she continued.

“However, after a number of small mishaps, I realized that I would not be able to undertake such a momentous responsibility alone.”

Yukina adjusted her grip, then extended her arms slowly forward, holding Kaze out as if she was lifting up baby Simba from the Lion King. He fluttered his wings obligingly.

“I have brought him here today to ask one of you, my most trusted companions, to join me in my journey through the joys and agonies of motherhood.”

Sayo stiffened. _Motherhood? With Minato-san? That seems a little...intimate_ , she thought. Everything still seemed to be moving in slow motion. _Am I really capable of bearing such a great responsibility?_

Sayo’s eyes involuntarily flicked to Lisa, only to find Lisa looking back at her, mouth already open and probably ready to volunteer. _Imai-san would be the obvious choice. She lives conveniently next door and is nurturing by nature._ Despite this logical conclusion, Sayo felt an unwelcome roiling in her gut as both girls froze, eyes still locked on each other.

“I would be honored to be your comrade in this, uh, this great venture, Yukina-san! You can count on me!!!”

“Ako. I thank you.” 

All of Sayo’s self-doubt and uncomfortable new emotions were instantly snuffed out as she envisioned the catastrophic consequences of Yukina and Ako raising a real-life dragon together with zero supervision. The world sped back into focus.

“Absolutely not!” She said, with perhaps a touch more volume than was strictly necessary. 

Even Ako’s pigtails seemed to wilt at the exclamation. Rinko placed a gentle hand on her arm and frowned over at Sayo, while Sayo tried to combat the rush of shame filling her with the certainty that she was _right_ , dammit. It was a losing battle.

“Now, now, I’m sure that Sayo just meant that it’s a lot of responsibility even for two people. I’m happy to help out, and I’m sure Sayo is too, right?”

“Imai-san is correct,” Sayo said, shooting Lisa a look of gratitude. “This is an unprecedented situation that will require teamwork and discipline. We don’t even know, for example, how big he’s going to get. But we are Roselia and I’m sure we can make it through, together.”

This was met with generally positive reactions, as Ako perked back up and Rinko volunteered her own assistance as well. Yukina had placed Kaze on her shoulder, where he wrapped his tail loosely around her neck, and was softly smiling. It changed her whole demeanor, softened it, and Sayo smiled back. Then Lisa said something teasing to Sayo about corny speeches, but Sayo couldn’t pay full attention as an unfortunate truth settled on her consciousness, causing the rest of the world to fade out around the edges again.

“We don’t even know how big he’s going to get.” Sayo repeated under her breath, horrified, as the enormity of the entire situation truly dawned on her. The others’ chatter stopped as they turned to face her.

“We don’t know anything about him, or his species, at all.” Her voice slowly rose in pitch, to the point that an unkind person might have called it ‘piercing’. “What will we feed it? Where will we keep it? Does it breathe fire?” 

Her breathing teetered on the edge of hyperventilation and her mind raced along disparate tracks. Every new thought pulled her attention in different directions, each labelled ‘urgent’. _We need to document_ **everything**. Her mind clutched at this idea like a drowning sailor clinging to a rope.

“Does anyone have a ruler?” 

Sayo felt gentle hands urging her downward, and she collapsed bonelessly to the floor. Lisa’s concerned face filled her view as she looked up.

“It’s going to be okay, Sayo, it’ll be alright.” Lisa’s tone was soothing, and Sayo felt the muscles of her shoulders slowly unclench. 

“Have s-some tea, Hikawa-san,” Rinko said. Apparently she had purchased a can from the vending machine outside while Sayo was…otherwise occupied…and Sayo took a grateful sip. How much time had passed? No more than a few seconds, surely?

“Thank you, Shirokane-san,” Sayo said. “And my apologies for my untoward reaction.”

“It’s alright, Hikawa-san. I think this...took everyone...by surprise,” Rinko said.

Before she could decide whether to gather the remaining shreds of her dignity and stand up or to surrender to the pleasant illusion that this was all part of a terrible prank devised by her terrible twin, Sayo heard a soft rumbling sound. She glanced up from her drink and past Lisa’s concerned eyes.

Yukina had squatted next to Lisa, and Sayo felt a comforting warmth suffuse her chest as the other girl’s concerned gaze filled her vision with gold. Yukina had come so far from when she had first started the band - when she had seen her bandmates more as business partners than friends. They both had.

“How are you feeling now, Sayo?” Yukina asked. 

“A little better, thank you.”

“I’m glad.”

One of Yukina’s fingers was absentmindedly scratching under the creature’s chin and its eyes were slitted, almost shut. Sayo realized that its mouth was slightly parted, and that that was where the rumble was coming from. Lisa seemed to notice at the same time.

“Is he purring?” Lisa asked, expression transitioning into a teasing smile. “He is! He’s kinda cute, if you look at him closer. Right, Yukina?”

“Kaze is not ‘cute.’”

“Of course not.”

Yukina huffed at the clear skepticism before turning back to face Sayo, who was sipping on her tea and slowly reassembling her shattered worldview.

“To answer your earlier questions, he seems to like tuna, he can stay in my room, and he can’t really breathe fire. Only a few sparks,” Yukina’s voice lowered noticeably in volume. “That was the source of one of the mishaps.”

That was...concerning. Well, at least needing to prevent an incipient disaster for someone else allowed Sayo to move past her own...struggles.

“Yukina, if it starts fires it can’t stay in your room!” Lisa said, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. 

“Imai-san is absolutely right, Minato-san. That is incredibly irresponsible.” Sayo agreed.

“It was a one-time thing that didn’t do any real damage,” Yukina responded, rising to her feet to face her childhood friend. “And as I said earlier, Kaze has been a brilliant source of inspiration for my music. I have been working on a song, tentatively titled ‘Dragon Born’, and the lyrics and melody have come to me without difficulty. But only in his presence. He must stay with me.” 

Yukina had a mulish expression on her face that Sayo had become all too familiar with over the past year since Roselia had formed. Normally it was a good sign - it meant that some of the more ridiculous requests by other band members would not be implemented, or that Yukina’s commitment to musical perfection remained unchanged. Now, though, it meant that Sayo would have to take another tack if she wanted any hope of progress.

“Do you have a fire extinguisher? Or a smoke alarm? Or any fire-prevention equipment at all?” Sayo asked. Maybe if she appealed to Yukina’s logical side…

Yukina slashed her arm through the air in front of her, expression unchanging.

“Irrelevant. Kaze would never hurt me. We share a connection.”

“He may not mean to, Yukina, but he’s just a baby! He probably doesn’t have full control yet, and we don’t want you to wake up to a room on fire,” Lisa said. Yukina did not look particularly moved. “And then Kaze would feel so guilty for the rest of his life. You wouldn’t want that on his conscience, would you?” she added.

Yukina held Kaze closer to her body and stared into his tiny face. She seemed to actually be reflecting on this latest bit of nonsense.

“Animals don’t have consciences, Imai-san,” Sayo corrected. 

Lisa glared at her, and made some rather energetic gestures towards Yukina’s general direction. Sayo had no idea what she was supposed to get from that. She settled for staring at Lisa blankly, trying to communicate her lack of understanding.

“He might, though? I mean...in stories dragons are always...very intelligent. He might be able to feel...regret.” Rinko said quietly. 

“Rin-Rin’s right! In a lot of games they have their own language and everything!” Ako said.

“I suppose you all are correct. I don’t want to put Kaze through something like that. I know the terrible impact that grief can have,” Yukina said softly. Then she looked up, eyebrows furrowed. “But even if that was the case, where exactly do you propose that he sleeps? Each of us would have the same issue.”

 _That is actually a very good question,_ Sayo thought. The rest of the members fell into a reflective silence, with one exception.

“We could alternate whose house he stays in! That way, we all share the risk equally! I mean, that’s why you asked for our help in the first place, right, Yukina-san?” Ako said. Sayo paused to let the complete pointlessness of this ‘solution’ wash over her. “I’ll go first!”

“That makes literally no sense, Udagawa-san.” 

“I think...Ako-chan just wants the chance...to get to know Kaze-san better.” Rinko said.

Sayo had not been paying particular attention to Ako - she had been rather busy with her own issues - but now that she looked at her more closely, Ako was practically vibrating with excitement. She was standing next to Yukina with her eyes locked on the little dragon, and Sayo supposed she should give Ako some credit for restraining herself for this long. Maybe she had matured. A tiny bit. Even if she was not providing helpful contributions to the present conversation

“Please, can I hold him, Yukina-san? Please, please, please?” 

“I suppose it is your right. Just…be gentle with him.” 

“Of course!!!”

Ako gently cradled the little creature like a baby, and made a variety of cooing noises at him. Rinko and Lisa looked on with pride in their eyes, and Yukina with concern in hers. Sayo supposed it was up to her to bring the conversation back on topic. Typical.

“I assume that no one has a concrete basement or spare room in their house,” she said out loud. She was met with a chorus of denials, and sighed. “Fair enough. I suppose the only one who might actually have such a room to spare would be Tsurumaki-san.”

“You mean Kokoro? Like, Hello Happy World’s Kokoro?” Lisa asked, tilting her head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It was an observation, not a suggestion.” 

The very thought of someone like Kokoro with possession of a dragon...some things were best not contemplated.

“I still think he should stay with me. I’ll wake up if there’s any issue, and my room has two clear escape routes.” Yukina said, folding her arms and shifting her weight onto one foot. Lisa frowned. 

“What if we got some sort of cage...or container?” Rinko chimed in, before the argument could restart. “He could stay in it during the night?”

“That’s a great idea! And maybe you could use, like, a terrarium to prevent sparks? Dragons are sort of like way-cooler lizards, right?” Ako added, without looking away from Kaze. She was now stroking the scales of his belly while he playfully swatted at her hand with his paws.

It was the most reasonable suggestion so far, Sayo supposed. 

“Good idea. I’ll purchase one after rehearsal. Lisa, could you help me carry it home?” Yukina commanded, more than asked.

“Of course, Yukina~”

“I can help,” Sayo said, then wondered why. Lisa was the one who lived next door. The idea crossed her mind that she wanted to be the one that Yukina relied on so much it became automatic, but she banished the selfish thought. It was clearly because she took her duties seriously. “I mean, I want to fulfill my responsibilities to Kaze-san. And I practice kyudo, so I believe I can provide adequate assistance for this task.”

Did that sound as awkward spoken aloud as it did in her head? Rinko looked confused and Lisa was smirking at her, so probably. 

“Thank you, Sayo. If it’s not too far out of your way.” 

“Of course not. You can rely on me.” The pleasant warmth in her chest had returned at the approval in Yukina’s voice. She tried to banish it too, with somewhat less success. “Kaze-san too, of course.” 

“Yes, yes, I’m sure we all can’t wait to see you flex, Sayo,” said Lisa, still smirking.

“That’s not what I -” Sayo began, spluttering, before thankfully being rescued by their leader.

“Anyway, now that we’ve decided on our next course of action, I think we’ve wasted quite enough time. We only have the rehearsal space for another hour, so we need to practice with extra intensity to make up for the time we lost.”

“Yes, of course, let’s get to it,” Sayo agreed, stamping out a surge of spiteful glee as Lisa’s smile was wiped off her face. Ako ‘awww’-ed, but reluctantly handed a wriggling Kaze back to Yukina.

“Um, Yukina-san,” Rinko said, as the band members began drifting towards their instruments.

“Yes?” Yukina replied. Her stoic expression was slightly undermined by Kaze batting at her lavender hair with a tiny paw, and Sayo had to stifle a smile at the adorable sight.

“I think...there are still a lot of issues...we need to discuss. If we’re going to raise Kaze-san...properly.”

“I think that can wait until later,” Yukina said, frowning.

“We should at least arrange a meeting time,” Sayo said. Now that she thought about it, Rinko was absolutely correct, as usual. Should they tell their parents? What were they going to do about school? _Wait, what did Yukina do with him while she was at school the past couple of days?_ She shook the thought off. “We need to formulate a long-term strategy, and begin doing research about Kaze-san and his species.”

“Fine,” Yukina exhaled, with a sigh that, coming from anyone else, Sayo would call petulant. “Let’s meet at my house tomorrow after school, then. Now, Black Shout.”

“Oh, but your parents have friends coming over that night, it might not be safe.” Lisa said, strumming an idle chord on her bass. Yukina frowned and looked like she was trying to remember if the statement was true or not. “It would probably be best if we had an empty house for the,” she glanced at Sayo, “research we want to do.”

“Fine,” Yukina said again, louder this time. Kaze pressed his head into her cheek at the tone of her voice, and she blinked, startled, before visibly calming. “Will anyone else’s house be empty?”

“My parents will be home...all weekend. Sorry,” said Rinko from her spot behind the keyboard.

“My parents will be on a far-off mission!” said Ako, making some sort of strange pose, and Sayo was grateful. Her apartment would be empty, too, but she would prefer Roselia’s chaos to be located elsewhere if at all possible. “Oh, but Onee-chan will be there, and maybe Himari-chan too. That should be fine, though, right?”

“No. This information is to be kept strictly within Roselia,” Yukina said, arms crossed and face stoic even as Kaze tried to use her ear as a step to climb on top of her head. 

“Well, we can discuss that at the meeting!” Lisa said, before Ako could protest. “My house won’t be empty, so that leaves…” 

Everyone turned to face her, and after an expectant pause, Sayo was forced to admit the unfortunate truth.

“My parents will be out of town for business all weekend, and Hina has a photoshoot in Osaka until Sunday, so I suppose-”

“Woo!!! Sleepover at Sayo-san’s!” Ako interrupted, tossing her drumsticks into the air without any apparent thought to her fellow bandmates.

“What? Who said anything about spending the night?” That was news to her. “And besides, this is a serious research and planning meeting, not some sort of _party_.” The last word was laced with the same sort of scorn Sayo showered on delinquents, or those who began listening to Christmas music before December. 

“Well, we’ll see how long the ‘serious research’ takes before we decide whether to sleep over, okay Ako?” Lisa said, winking at the younger girl as she fetched her scattered drumsticks.

“You do realize I can see you, Imai-san,” Sayo grumbled. Lisa just winked, at her this time, in response. Infuriating.

“Okay, so everyone will meet at Sayo’s after school tomorrow, then,” Yukina said, walking over to where she had placed her bag at the beginning of the session. As the rest of the band assented, Yukina placed Kaze, gently, back into the bag, with his little head poking out. Sayo found herself smiling at the cuteness before she mentally shook herself and refocused on their leader, guitar slung around her neck and ready to play.

“Now, enough time has been wasted. Everyone, we’ll start with Black Shout. We need to work on the intro.”

Kaze focused his attention on them, golden eyes gleaming, for the entire rehearsal. His wings fluttered whenever Sayo struck a particularly strong power chord, and she found herself appreciating the tiny audience, just a little. Maybe raising a dragon with the rest of her bandmates wouldn’t be the worst thing ever…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The set-up for the story has now pretty much ended! 
> 
> Next chapter: The Serious Research and Planning Meeting (and Not a Party at All, Thank You Very Much, Ako) takes place!

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate title: Here there be Dragons
> 
> This is officially my first fic! I've been reading fic on and off for many years, but have never written my own. This hasn't been beta read, and any comments are welcome, as well as any constructive criticism!


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